Predict Old Faithful - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) Predict Old Faithful Predict Old Faithful Predict Old Faithful Old Faithful, named by members of the 1870 Washburn Expedition, was once called “Eternity’s Timepiece” because of the regularity of its eruptions. Despite the myth, this geyser has never erupted at exact hourly intervals, nor is it the largest or most regular geyser in Yellowstone National Park. NPS / Jim Peaco Though most geysers are not predictable, Old Faithful Geyser is famous for its regularity. Use the rangers’ formula below to predict its next eruption. You will need a place to record your work and answers. For kids ages 8+. Step 1 Open the Old Faithful Geyser Streaming Webcam (the other Old Faithful Webcam is a different view and refreshes every 30 seconds). Wait for Old Faithful to erupt and time its eruption from when water begins splashing continuously out of the cone until only steam is coming out. A. Starting Time: ______ C.

Length of eruption to nearest half minute: ______ Step 2 Using the table below, find the length of the eruption (C) in the first column. Read directly across to the second column in the same row and note the interval or number of minutes (D) until the next eruption. C Step 3 Add the starting time for the first eruption (A) with the interval number of minutes until the next eruption (D) to predict the time for the next eruption: starting time (A) + interval until next eruption (D) = time next eruption predicted ______ + ______ = ______ Step 4 Visit the Old Faithful Geyser Streaming Webcam or @GeyserNPS on Twitter to find the rangers’ prediction for the next eruption: ______ Is your prediction similar? ______ Step 5 If you are still watching Old Faithful for the next eruption, note the time it started: ______ . Compare the actual starting time to your prediction and the rangers’ prediction. Remember that Old Faithful is a natural feature and changes often, so any prediction may not prove to be exactly right. More Information Geysers video, Yellowstone InDepth episode 7 (5 min.

49 sec.): With over half the world's geysers, Yellowstone offers tremendous opportunities to see these geologic wonders in action. Explore the mechanics of geysers, their role in the park's history and what they teach us about the world in which we live. Predicting Old Faithful, Yellowstone InDepth episode (4 min. 41 sec.): Ranger Darlene Bos explains how we predict eruptions for this popular geyser. Current Activity of Selected Geysers : A list of last known eruptions for geysers, including predicted geysers. See the streaming Old Faithful webcam or @GeyserNPS on Twitter for the most recent prediction of Old Faithful. Inspiration Point in Yellowstone National Park Old Faithful is one of the best known natural phenomenons in the world and is located within the confines of the historic site of Yellowstone National Park. Old Faithful is a cone geyser that is well known for erupting with boiling hot water on a regular basis that has been recorded as occurring every 30 to 120 minutes without fail.

The frequency with which the geyser erupts in a spectacular way shooting boiling water upwards over 100 feet into the air with each eruption gave it the world renowned name. The geyser of Old Faithful was first discovered in 1870 by an expedition exploring what is now the Yellowstone area. News of the massive geyser spread quickly and led to the construction of a number of buildings in the area around Old Faithful, which is now known as the Old Faithful Historic District. A number of original buildings from the late 19th century and the early 20th century remain and can be explored, including the original Old Faithful Inn and Hamilton's Stores. Known throughout the world, Old Faithful is a natural attraction not to be missed by any visitor to the Yellowstone National Park area. The area surrounding the geyser is popular with visitors to one of the best known national parks in the world and includes many different visitor attractions. A number of museum and educational sites can be enjoyed by visitors who make their way to this famous and naturally beautiful part of Wyoming.

Search: Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Date Created/Published: 2005 September 29. Medium: 1 photograph : digital, TIFF file, color. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-highsm-04956 (original digital file) Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication. Call Number: LC-DIG-highsm- 04956 (ONLINE) [P&P] Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Notes: Old Faithful is a cone geyser located in Wyoming, in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn- Langford-Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name. Title, date, and subjects provided by the photographer. Credit line: Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Gift and purchase; Carol M. Highsmith; 2009; (DLC/PP-2010:031).

Forms part of: Carol M. Highsmith's America Project in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Subjects: Part of: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946- Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Bookmark This Record: View the MARC Record for this item. Rights assessment is your responsibility. The Library of Congress generally does not own rights to material in its collections and, therefore, cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. For further rights information, see "Rights Information" below and the Rights and Restrictions Information page ( ). Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-highsm-04956 (original digital file) Call Number: LC-DIG-highsm- 04956 (ONLINE) [P&P] Medium: 1 photograph : digital, TIFF file, color. Rights assessment is your responsibility. Some images in this collection are described in groups; others are described individually. In some cases, all of the images in the group display online, in other cases they do not. You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types. Determine whether the desired materials can be retrieved online.

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Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served. To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3. Old Faithful Geyser - Yellowstone National Park Caldera Old Faithful Old Faithful was named by the first official expedition to Yellowstone, the Washburn Expedition of 1870. They were impressed by its size and frequency. Old Faithful erupts every 35 to 120 minutes for 1 1/2 to 5 minutes. Its maximum height ranges from 90 to 184 feet. It is not the biggest or the most regular geyser in Yellowstone but it is the biggest regular geyser. Furthermore, it has been erupting in nearly the same fashion throughout the recorded history of the park. Through the years, it has become one of the most studied geysers.

One result of this close observation is that the Park Rangers are able to predict its eruptions fairly accurately. This makes Old Faithful geyser one of the easiest geysers in Yellowstone to see. Old Faithful is deceiving. The benches around the geyser are over 300 feet from the geyser but with nothing to judge the distance by, I rarely realize just how big the geyser is until I get further away. Personally, I like the view from Geyser Hill. As with any geyser, watch the wind direction or you may only see steam. Predicting Old Faithful: The time to the next eruption, the interval, is predicted using the duration of the current eruption. The duration is timed from the first heavy surge which lifts water skyward at the start of the eruption until the last small splash above the cone at the very end. The longer the eruption lasts, the longer the interval until the next eruption. For instance, a 2 minute eruption results in an interval of about 55 minutes whereas a 4.5 minute eruption results in an interval of about 90 minutes. See the following table for more information. It is not possible to predict more than one eruption in advance.

Common Misconceptions: Old Faithful plays on the hour every hour This legend dates back to the early history of Yellowstone Park. Old Faithful has never played every hour on the hour. It is just as likely to play on the hour as it to play 17 minutes after the hour or 23 minutes after the hour or …… Old Faithful plays hourly Old Faithful’s intervals range from 35 minutes to 2 hours. You might see one interval of 60 minutes but it is very unlikely that you will see two in a row. This misconception seem to date back to the 1870 Washburn expedition where one of the members reported that Old Faithful played “nearly hourly”. Each day there are usually between 21 and 23 eruptions so “nearly hourly” is about true if you look at the average but on an eruption to eruption basis, hourly eruptions have never been the norm. No geyser, including Old Faithful, plays at set times and intervals. There is always some variation. Old Faithful is slowing down People expecting an hourly eruption are often surprised when they have to wait through a 90 minute to 2 hour interval.

They then think that Old Faithful is slowing down. Old Faithful still has its same interval range, 35-120 minutes, that it has always had. In the last few years, long interval eruptions have been a little more common than they were a few decades so the yearly average has increased by a few minutes over what it was a few decades ago but this change is very small and the range of intervals is still the same. Old Faithful is getting shorter Measurements show that Old Faithful is still as tall as it has ever been, 90-180 feet. There are a number of reasons people may feel that Old Faithful is getting shorter. They may have seen an exceptionally tall eruption last time and this time saw a more ordinary or even a short eruption. The first time they saw an eruption they may have been more excited and their excitement caused them to over estimate its height. Or they may have first seen it a number of years ago when it was possible to get closer to the geyser. To accommodate the summer crowds, the boardwalk has since been moved further back from Old Faithful. Many people don’t realize just how far from the geyser the boardwalk is.

With nothing to judge the distance by, most people severely underestimate the height of Old Faithful. Its not until they get back farther from the geyser and see the buildings around the geyser that they realize just how big the geyser is. Old Faithful erupted late or early It is only possible to make predictions of the time Old Faithful may erupt. The geyser will erupt when it is ready. Its the prediction that is early or late not the geyser. What to look for: A joke among some geyser gazers, when asked in the summer by a park visitor about when Old Faithful will next erupt, is to ask the visitor about the “Old Faithful Indicator.” Of course, there is no Old Faithful indicator in the true sense of the idea. What the geyser gazer is actually referring to is the crowd seated around Old Faithful. After the eruption everyone leaves. As the predicted time for the next eruption approaches, the benches begin to fill and eventually overflow. Thus, by looking at the crowd, you can get a rough idea as to when the next eruption is predicted.

If the indicator is broken, say you are lucky enough to be in the park when there are no crowds, then you’ll have to look at the geyser. Old Faithful goes through a period of preplay prior to an eruption. This preplay can last anywhere up to twenty minutes. The preplay consist of splashing and small jetting which often occurs every few minutes reaching from 1 to (rarely)20 feet in height. It often lasts just long enough for some excited visitors to start taking pictures. The eruption usually starts from what initially looks like just another preplay jet. Short interval eruptions occasionally start with the first splash seen above the cone but most require a period of preplay. Once the eruption starts, the jetting will grow, stop, grow again and in two or three of these steps, reach maximum height. It takes 10-20 seconds to reach full height. Unfortunately, the full height is maintained only for a short time. Within a minute, the eruption starts waning. This is the when you need to pay close attention if you want to predict the next eruption. The interval to the next eruption is based on the total duration of the current eruption.

This includes the unimpressive play that ends the eruption. The main visible difference between a long and short eruption is the duration of the end play. In a short duration eruption the end play stops quickly. In a long duration eruption you may see up to 4 minutes of unimpressive, 5 feet tall, end play. It just doesn’t seem fair that a long wait is due to such wimpy play. More pages from Yellowstone Net Join us on Facebook Live image of Old Faithful - click to visit "Old Faithful" Geyser, Yellowstone National Park | Library of Congress "Old Faithful" Geyser, Yellowstone National Park [ digital file from original item ] Download: "Old Faithful" Geyser, Yellowstone National Park Contributor Names - Copyright 1898 by the Photochrom Co. - Title from item. - Title on inventory list: Old Faithful, Yellowstone. - Caption for similar image in LOT 12690, no. 5 (LC-USZ62-127371) lists title as: Old Faithful Geyser in Eruption. - Detroit Publishing Co. no. "53304". - Forms part of: Photochrom Print Collection.

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Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served. To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3. Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate. Chicago citation style: Old Faithful | geyser, Wyoming, United States | Britannica.com geyser, Wyoming, United States Wyoming Old Faithful, geyser , northwestern Wyoming , U.S. , located at the head of the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park . Old Faithful is the most famous, though not the highest, of all North American geysers. It was so named in 1870 by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition because it seemed to spout “faithfully” every 63 to 70 minutes. Continuous observation revealed, however, that the eruptions occurred with some irregularity, the intervals varying from 33 to 120 minutes.

After the 1983 Borah Peak ( Idaho ) earthquake , those intervals became increasingly less predictable, although detailed measurements made since 2000 revealed that most eruptions fell generally within a range of approximately 60 to 110 minutes, the average being roughly every 90 minutes. Ultimately, though, naturalists at Yellowstone have found that the geyser’s eruption can be predicted accurately only from one event to the next. Precisely when the next eruption will occur is determined by the duration of the preceding eruption: the longer an eruption, the longer the interval to the next eruption. Old Faithful geyser erupting in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S. © Digital Vision/Getty Images Old Faithful is an example of a cone geyser. Cone geysers are visible on Earth ’s surface as mounds of porous deposits of siliceous sinter (geyserite). Cone geysers typically produce steady eruptions lasting several seconds or minutes. The duration of Old Faithful’s eruptions ranges from 1.5 to 5.5 minutes.

Billowing steam and 3,700 to 8,400 gallons (14,000 to 32,000 litres) of hot water are ejected at each eruption. The geyser’s fountainlike columns reach heights averaging about 130–140 feet (40–43 metres), although eruption height can exceed 180 feet (55 metres). During an eruption, the water temperature at the geyser’s opening is about 203–204 °F (95–95.6 °C). Old Faithful geyser erupting at Yellowstone National Park, northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The geyser’s … Photos.com/Thinkstock Geysir The Upper Geyser Basin has Yellowstone’s largest concentration of hydrothermal features and has long been the focal point for visitors to the park. The historic Old Faithful Inn (1903–04) is one of the country’s great national park lodges; Old Faithful Lodge (1918–28) and other vintage buildings are also in the vicinity. In 2010 Yellowstone park officials opened the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center.

The facility provides park visitors with an opportunity to learn more about the geology, hydrothermal properties, and scientific study of Old Faithful and other hydrothermal features in the park. Spectators viewing an eruption of Old Faithful geyser, Yellowstone National Park, northwestern … © MedioImages/Getty Images Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) Contact Us Marvel. Explore. Discover. Visit Yellowstone and experience the world's first national park. Marvel at a volcano’s hidden power rising up in colorful hot springs, mudpots, and geysers. Explore mountains, forests, and lakes to watch wildlife and witness the drama of the natural world unfold. Discover the history that led to the conservation of our national treasures “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division Wyoming, Idaho, Montana Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana Yellowstone National Park is a treasure that inspires awe in travelers from around the world. New Zealand and Iceland are known for their geysers, but nowhere are there as many as in Yellowstone. Scenery, wildlife, and history were contributing factors influencing Congress to establish Yellowstone as the world's first national park in 1872.

At the heart of Yellowstone's past, present, and future lies volcanism. Catastrophic volcanic eruptions occurred here: About 2 million years ago, then 1.2 million years ago, and then again 600,000 years ago. The latest eruption spewed out nearly 240 cubic miles of debris. What is now the park's central portion then collapsed, forming a 28- by 47- mile caldera (or basin). The magmatic heat powering those eruptions still powers the park's famous geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots. The spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River provides a glimpse of Earth's interior: its waterfalls highlight the boundaries of lava flows and thermal areas. Rugged mountains flank the park's volcanic plateau, rewarding both eye and spirit. Old Faithful to Mammoth Hot Springs One of the main routes to Old Faithful is from the south via Jackson, Wyoming, and the South Entrance. The park road crosses the Continental Divide three times. Waters flow east of the divide to the Atlantic, or west to the Pacific.

This park route passes five geysers West Thumb, Lower, and Norris on its way to Mammoth Hot Springs. Sampling the world's largest concentration of geysers, you follow the beautiful Firehole and Gibbon rivers. A visitor center at Old Faithful and a museum at Norris tell aspects of the park story. Old Faithful Old Faithful Geyser is the world's best-known geyser. Its eruption intervals have long varied around an average of 65 minutes, ranging from 30 to 120 minutes. Recent earthquakes have lengthened the average interval to 78 minutes. Eruption times of other nearby geysers are available at the visitor center. Old Faithful to Madison In Black Sand Basin the bright colors of Sunset Lake and Emerald Pool attract photographers. At Biscuit Basin, mineral deposits took on biscuit shapes before a 1959 earthquake triggered changes destroying the biscuits. At Midway Geyser Basin you may walk to Excelsior Geyser Crater and Grand Prismatic Spring. Firehole Lake Drive (one way, northbound) loops off the main road to Great Fountain Geyser, Firehole Lake, a hot pool, and the Three Senses Trail.

The Lower Geyser Basin features the Fountain Paint Pots. Fountain Flat Drive exits west and ends at Goose Lake. Firehole Canyon loop drive (one way, southbound), starting south of Madison Junction, passes by Firehole Falls. The museum at Madison Junction portrays the evolution of the national park idea. Roadside forests are mainly lodgepole pine, some reddened by the feeding of mountain pine beetles. West Yellowstone, Montana is 14 miles west of Madison Junction. From Madison to Norris you drive along the Yellowstone caldera's northwest rim. Gibbon Falls cascade over the caldera wall. Norris Junction to Mammoth Hot Springs Norris Geyser Basin's array of thermal features is unparallelled. Steamboat Geyser, the world's largest, erupts at irregular intervals of days to years. Echinus Geyser erupts about once per hour. Porcelain Basin is Yellowstone's hottest exposed area. Exhibits at Norris Museum explain geyser workings. At Norris Junction you can turn east toward the Canyon area. At Canyon you can go north to Tower Junction or south to the Lake Area. Continuing north of Norris you pass Obsidian Cliff.

Obsidian, a volcanic glass excellent for projectile points and cutting tools, was traded across North America by Native Americans. Five miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs, at Swan Lake Flat's north end, a rough one-way dirt road goes around Bunsen Peak. Two miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs the Upper Terrace Loop Drive passes through a fascinating thermal area. Gnarled limber pine trees on some extinct formations are over 500 years old. At Mammoth Hot Springs the terraces are spectacular travertine (calcium carbonate) formations deposited daily. Most new rock from Yellowstone's geysers is called geyserite, a noncrystalline mineral chemically similar to glass. Exhibits at Albright Visitor Center portray the park's early history and wildlife and tell how the US Army protected the park from 1886 to 1916. Park headquarters is in the buildings of Fort Yellowstone, a late 19th-century cavalry post. Gardiner, Montana, lies five miles north. The Yellowstone River flows north, eventually to join the Missouri.

To Tower Junction and Canyon The road east from Mammoth Hot Springs leads your four miles to Undine Falls, then 0.2 miles to Lava Creek. Three miles further east look for waterfowl and muskrats at Blacktail Ponds. Next, Blacktail Plateau Drive, a one-way dirt road eastbound, leaves the main road to traverse grass- and sagebrush-covered hills and forests of Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, and lodgepole pine. Watch for pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and elk. Scattered groves of quaking aspen trees turn gold in autumn. The next side road leads to a petrified redwood tree. Such trees may be found over hundreds of square miles in northern Yellowstone. Some are still in an upright position. Tower Junction to Northeast Entrance Lamar Valley, accessible all year, is winter range for elk and bison. You may camp at Slough Creek or Pebble Creek campgrounds en route to the Northeast Entrance, 29 miles from Tower Junction. Beyond lie Silver Gate (one mile) and Cooke City, Montana (four miles), and the Beartooth Highway climbs to 10,940 feet at Beartooth Pass.

Tower Junction to Canyon Tower Falls, tumbling 132 feet, was named for the adjacent volcanic pinnacles. Tower Creek flows into the Yellowstone River. South from Tower Falls, as you drive up Mount Washington, look east, downslope, into prime grizzly bear country on Antelope Creek. This area is closed to human travel, to offer the bears refuge. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FEED OR APPROACH BEARS!!! The main road next crosses Dunraven Pass at 8,850 feet elevation, amidst broad-topped whitebark pines and spire-shaped subalpine fir. Meadows produce a profusion of wildflowers during the brief summer. From the Washburn Hot Springs Overlook south of the pass, you can see the Yellowstone caldera. Its north boundary is Mount Washburn and its south boundary is the Red Mountains 35 miles away. You can see the Teton Range on clear days, on the right beyond the Red Mountains. Canyon Because of bear activity here, camping is restricted to hard-sided units only. Exhibits at the Canyon Visitor Center explain the park's geology.

A 2.5-mile loop road (one way) leads first to a spur road out to Inspiration Point. Here the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River plunges 1,000 feet below you. The canyon's colors were created by hot water acting on volcanic rock. It was not these colors, but the river's yellow banks at its distant confluence with the Missouri River, that occasioned the Minnetaree Indian name which French trappers translated as roche jaune, yellow stone. The canyon has been rapidly downcut more than once, perhaps by great glacial outburst floods. Little deepening takes place today. Grandview Point Grandview Point affords a distant view of the 308-foot Lower Falls. Lookout Point affords a vista of Lower Falls, and a steep trail descends to a closer viewpoint. Back on the main road turn left in 0.3 miles to view the brink of the 109-foot Upper Falls. Back on the main road again, go 0.6 miles south to Artist Point Road and cross Chittenden Bridge to Uncle Tom's Parking Area. Trails here offer close views of the Upper and Lower Falls.

South Rim Drive leads to Artist Point for another view of the canyon and Lower Falls. Hayden Valley The road here follows the Yellowstone River's meanderings across a former lakebed. After the great glaciers retreated, Yellowstone Lake was much larger than it is today, and this area was then flooded. The lake left fine silt and impermeable clay soil that permits little tree growth but allows rich shrubland that provides food for a variety of wild animals. Waterfowl, including white pelicans and trum-peter swans, abound in marshy areas. In this open parkland you may see moose, bison, and occasionally grizzly bears. VIEW LARGE ANIMALS ONLY AT A DISTANCE, FROM YOUR CAR OR FROM ROAD-SIDES. Do not stop in roadways; use roadside parking areas for your safety. No fishing is allowed for a 6-mile section in Hayden Valley. This provides quiet for the animals and views of untrammeled wilderness scenery for you. Stop at Mud Volcano and see the varied thermal features there. You might see spawning cutthroat trout jumping at Le Hardy Rapids, 3 miles north of Lake Junction, in June and July.

The Lake Area East Entrance to Fishing Bridge Junction Cody, Wyoming, lies 50 miles beyond the East Entrance. As you cross 8,530-foot elevation Sylvan Pass, watch for pikes and yellow-bellied marmots, illustrated above, in the rocky debris of talus slopes. You descend the west slope of the Absaroka Mountains, an eroded volcanic range named for the Crow Indians. Near Yellowstone Lake a spur road leads to Lake Butte Overlook for a view of this immense body of water. Yellowstone Lake occupies only the southeast quarter of the Yellowstone caldera. At the overlook you are 4 miles outside the caldera's east boundary. Just north of the lake the Earth's surface is rising about 0.9 inches per year! This suggests future volcanic activityhere. As you drive along the lake's edge, you can see Steamboat Springs. This is a hot spring remnant located on a line of faults, or fractures in the Earth, that also pass through Mary Bay and Indian Pond to the northwest. Bay and pond both occupy geologically recent hydrothermal explosion craters. The bottom sediments in Mary Bay are still very warm.

Watch for moose browsing in the sedge meadows and marshes along Pelican Creek flats as you approach Fishing Bridge. Exhibits at Fishing Bridge Museum feature the park's birds. Fishing Bridge itself spans the Yellowstone River, the lake's outlet. The bridge was closed to fishing in 1973. Fishing Bridge now offers one of the best wild trout spawning shows anywhere for most of the summer. White pelicans feed on the native cut-throat trout. Because of a high level of bear activity, only hard-sided units are allowed to camp in the Fishing Bridge area. Yellowstone Lake is North America's largest mountain lake. Over geological time it has drained into the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean via Hudson Bay, and now drains into the Atlantic via the Gulf of Mexico. It is 20 miles long, 14 miles wide, and 320 feet deep at its deepest point. The average depth is about 139 feet. Trout generally inhabit the upper 60 feet because their foods rarely occur below that depth. The average surface temperature in August is about 60°F, and the bottom temperature never rises above 42°F.

Swimming is discouraged even where not prohibited: Such cold waters can cause potentially fatal hypothermia or hyperventilation in minutes. Boating is popular on some park lakes. Permits (required for all watercraft) and advice on canoeing and kayaking can be obtained at ranger stations at Lake Village or at Grant Village. A marina is at Bridge Bay and boat ramps are at Grant Village. Traveling toward West Thumb you may take a rough spur road, starting south of Bridge Bay, to see the natural bridge for which the area is named. Gull Point Drive loops off the Grand Loop Road for a closer view of the lake's edge. West Thumb and Grant Village Walk the boardwalk through the geyser basin at lake's edge at West Thumb. Intense heat measured in lake sediments below West Thumb indicates a shallow thermal system underlying this more recent caldera within the Yellowstone caldera. Should the lake level fall just a few feet, an immense steam (hydrothermal) explosion could occur here. That is what created the craters now filled by Mary Bay and Indian Pond, described above. Exhibits at Grant Village Visitor Center, two miles south of West Thumb, feature the park's immense wilderness.

Fishing, boating, and backcountry use permits are available at the ranger station. Please visit the Geology Books and Media webpage for additional sources such as text books , theme books , CD ROMs , and technical reports . Parks and Plates: The Geology of Our National Parks, Monuments & Seashores. Lillie, Robert J., 2005. ISBN 0-393-92407-6 9" x 10.75", paperback, 550 pages, full color throughout The spectacular geology in our national parks provides the answers to many questions about the Earth. The answers can be appreciated through plate tectonics, an exciting way to understand the ongoing natural processes that sculpt our landscape. Parks and Plates is a visual and scientific voyage of discovery! Ordering from your National Park Cooperative Associations' bookstores helps to support programs in the parks. Please visit the bookstore locator for park books and much more.

Yellowstone National Park: Old Faithful Geyser Timing Secret Figured Out By Scientists [Video] Yellowstone National Park: Old Faithful Geyser Timing Secret Figured Out By Scientists [Video] Patrick Frye One of the mysteries of Yellowstone National Park is what gives Old Faithful its well-known timing for blasting its geyser. Scientists have figured out what makes Old Faithful tick, and it turns out the explanation is all bendy. In a related report by the Inquisitr, Muslim terrorists operating in the United States attempted to hatch a plot to artificially trigger an eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano in order to destroy the country. A UC Berkeley earth sciences professor named Michael Manga reported on their findings regarding Old Faithful’s geyser in the February issue of the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. The short version for why the geyser has such stunning regularity turns out to be related to the plumbing. Any kinks or twists in the pipes cause pressure to build up along the way, resulting in a schedule that tourists can plan their day against.

“Most geysers appear to have a bubble trap accumulating the steam injected from below, and the release of the steam from the trap gets the geyser ready to erupt,” Manga said in a statement . “You can see the water column warming up and warming up until enough water reaches the boiling point that, once the top layer begins to boil, the boiling becomes self-perpetuating.” Manga came to this realization by studying geysers in both Yellowstone National Park and Chile. They also built an artificial geyser out of glass and tubing in order to test their hypothesis in a lab setting. “At many geysers it looks like there is some cavity that is stuck off on the side where steam is accumulating,” Manga explained. “So we said, ‘Let’s put in a cavity and watch how the bubble trap generates eruptions.’ It allows us to get both small eruptions and big eruptions in the lab.” Over the long term, Manga hopes these studies may be applied to volcanic eruptions due to their similarities. It’s certainly easier to drop instruments into boiling water and steam rather than the molten earth produced by a volcano. But that does not mean the existence of geysers like Old Faithful are not interesting in and of themselves.

“One of our goals is to figure out why geysers exist – why don’t you just get a hot spring – and what is it that controls how a geyser erupts, including weather and earthquakes,” he said. Berkeley has released the Old Faithful video which explains why geysers erupt in the first place. Check it out to see how their do their research in action. Yellowstone Natural Wonders: Old Faithful Geyser, Falls, and Canyons Yellowstone’s Geysers and Hot Springs Pools (Geothermal Features) Yellowstone is home to about half of the world’s geysers—the largest concentration on earth — around 10,000 in all. The park includes 300 geysers and hot springs including Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Hot Spring. Geyser basins throughout the Park feature groups of steaming, gurgling, and spraying spectacles, many in glorious color. Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Geyser Of Yellowstone’s geysers, Old Faithful is the most famous. It is named “Faithful” because of the predictability of its eruptions.

The geyser’s timing has changed over time, but it consistently erupts every 60-110 minutes (about 17 times per day.) The Lakes, Rivers, and Waterfalls of Yellowstone The Yellowstone River features three of the largest waterfalls in the park, Upper Falls, Crystal Falls, and Lower Falls. It is the longest undamned river in America. Yellowstone has over 45 named waterfall, and hundreds of unnamed falls. The Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon is the tallest, plunging 308 feet. The view is so picturesque that an overlook has been named, Artist Point. Yellowstone Lake , at 20 miles long, 14 miles wide and 390 feet deep is North America’s largest mountain lake. The bottom of Yellowstone Lake is hydrothermally active, and has hydrothermal vents, spires, craters, domes, and rhyolitic lava flows. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone The Yellowstone River sits at the bottom of a pink and yellow, pastel-colored canyon. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is twenty miles long, and is up to 4,000-feet wide and 1,200-feet deep in places.

Bring your camera and stop at Artist’s Point for breathtaking views. The Yellowstone Caldera Sits on Top of a Supervolcano Did you know that Yellowstone National Park is actually an active supervolcano ? As you walk around the park you may think: “I don’t see any volcanos?!” That’s because much of the entire park is a volcano – and the bubbling geysers and hot springs are an indication of the churning activity below the surface.

Question: In which US National Park is the geyser known as 'Old Faithful'?
Answer: YELLOWSTONE